Political commentary from the LA Times

Obama date night: Just me, my honey and hundreds of onlookers

This guy and his wife went out to dinner in Georgetown over the weekend, a date-night experience that included one of the city's poshest, trendiest restaurants (details to come).

Then they came home and strolled around their backyard, just another twosome enjoying each other's company in their first date night since moving into the Big White House.

But Barack and Michelle Obama are no ordinary couple. In fact, some people call them the First Couple. And they're also off-the-charts popular.

So maybe local residents could be forgiven for gathering outside a high-end French restaurant run by chef Michel Richard (Citronelle), which created a special menu for the Obamas. They stood for two hours, behind police tape. We're talking hundreds of people.

Most were orderly. Most seemed only to want to wave at the Obamas as they left the restaurant.

But one woman, according to the White House press pool report, paced up and down shouting into a bullhorn phrases such as, "This is so great that you are here” and “Create fear and terror.”